Police are investigating alleged links between leading figures at two of Scotland's largest mosques and a terrorist organisation banned in the UK and Pakistan

The head of religious events at Glasgow Central Mosque Sabir Ali and the leader of Polwarth Mosque in Edinburgh, Hafiz Abdul Hamid, are both said to have held senior positions in Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP).

SSP has been held responsible for attacks in Pakistan, has been classed as a proscribed organisation by the UK Government since 2001 and was banned by the Pakistan administration a year later.

President of Glasgow Central Mosque Shafi Kausar said he was "shocked" to hear of the allegations.

He said: "I have not yet seen documentary evidence and all the allegations stem from well over a decade ago.

"However, our policy is clear, we will never allow any extremist group into our mosque and have already offered our full co-operation to the police.

"No member of our community, a true Muslim, has the right to take the law into their own hands nor do they have the right to engage in the abuse of another person in the name of our mosque."

The allegations come after an investigation by the BBC into alleged terrorist links at the two mosques.

He said a new governance committee would be in place at the mosque, which has faced months of internal wrangling regarding how it is run, which would be "transparent and accountable".

Glasgow Central Mosque trustee Mohammed Ashraf said the last week had been "the worst week for our mosque in living history" and stressed it condemns all radical, extremist and terrorist organisations.

According to documents uncovered by the BBC, the SSP's in-house magazine Khalifat-e-Rashida suggests Sabir Ali and Hafiz Abdul Hamid continued to have connections with SSP after it was banned and list Mr Ali as the one-time president of SSP in Scotland.

Polwarth Mosque is said to have provided financial support to the SSP after it was banned.

An October 2003 article in the publication covers a memorial service at Glasgow Central Mosque for the SSP's former leader and co-founder Azam Tariq, who had been assassinated in Pakistan that month.

The magazine claims a man named Chaudhry Sabir told those attending the meeting that Tariq had "won the hearts of the Muslim world" and "the enemies of Islam killed him", and vowed to continue his mission.

SSP is an anti-Shia political party with an armed wing Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), which has claimed responsibility for several sectarian attacks in Pakistan including the killing of 50 Shia Muslims at a mosque following Tariq's arrest in 2001.

A UK Government documents states the aims of the group are "to transform Pakistan by violent means into a Sunni state under the total control of Sharia law" and to destroy other religions. It is not known if either man still has links to the organisation.

Mr Ali was not available for comment.